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User blog:Psychomantis108/The Fall of the Aubeanic Reign (The unused chapters): Chapter VII - Red Letter Day
Neither prisoner got a wink of sleep that night, the terrified and pained screams continued to echo, inside their heads as they lay, motionless, listening out for more, like two children, who heard a bump in the night. Either way, the fate of the man remained uncertain as they didn't see or hear anything else of him. Millions of possibilities ran through their heads, did he know that they were coming? Had they come to torture him and gotten to work, the second they entered his cell? Were they next? That final though, as simple and selfish as it was, dominated their consciences. Niall kept on trying not to think about it, his focus shifted onto something else, hoping to drown out the screams with the laughter of his dorm mate. The dryness in his mouth with the sweet taste of grape juice and the trembling in his numb hands with Lianne's soft fingers and palms, which probably lay severed in the grass, possibly a snack for a pack of wolves, who had no appreciation for the kind hearted half breed that they belonged to. His sigh turned into a shudder as his own hands turned just as pale as her's. "Niall?" The Dunmer's eyes shot open as he slowly glanced up to his Half-Breed companion. "Y-Yeah?" There was a long pause and it wasn't obvious anymore, whether or nto Mona was trying to think of a way to phrase her question or trying to think one up at all, now that she had gotten his attention. Either way, she failed, falling silent, immediately after. "Everything okay?" There was another void of silence, in the dark as the Dunmer listened out for her response. "I..." The Half-Breed paused, feeling a similar sensation to Niall. "Tell me what your life was like before this." Niall lifted his head and looked to her in confusion, even though she couldn't see his face, in the dark, she still felt the confusion radiate off of him as he stared over to her general direction. "Please?" She added, almost begging him at this point as she wanted to drown out the screams, hoping that the blood curdling shrieks could be washed away with trivia. "Well..." Niall began, pulling himself up as he thought on it. "I was... Born in High Rock, Calmorn, to be exact." "Any family?" Mona asked, her voice was reduced to a slight groan as her tears choked her. "Mum and Dad... That's it." Niall replied, realising how boring that was. "No brothers or sisters?" Niall shook his head before remembering that the room was pitch black and that therefore body language was useless. "N-No..." "Did you have a job?" "N-No, I studied at the Mages' Guild." "Mages Guild? You're a Mage?" Niall froze on the spot, he wasn't exactly subtle about it... He might not have had his staff but he still had the robes. "Robes didn't givve me away?" He mocked, grinning to himself, though it was dark so Mona couldn't see. The Half-Breed just frowned, feeling a bit dim now as she hadn't really been looking anywhere but at his face and hands. "My mum's a mage and she doesn't wear robes..." Mona mumbled, hoping to excuse herself as she sat up and faced the door. "So... You were at the Mages' Guild in...?" "Daggerfall, it had quite a nice Guild Hall and my family has some history there." "Your family rich or something?" She asked, somewhat intregued. "No-No... I din't even know about my family's connection with the place until I got there and told them my name." "Heh, when we get out of here, I'm sticking with you." Mona grinned, slowly wrapping her ams around her legs and cradling them, smiling to herself. "I'm not royalty or anything if that's what you're thinking." Niall mumbled, patting his hand on his stomach, prompting Mona to roll her eyes and shake her head. "Damn, there goes my fantasy of meeting a Dunmeri prince in a prison cell, who'll rescue me and make me his bride." The Half-Breed sighed, before chuckling, rolling onto her back and looking up to the ceiling as she finally found herself smiling. "Well, if it'll make you feel any better I could wear a tiara." This got another laugh from her as she lay there, looking up to the ceiling and shaking her head. Niall then saw a small window of opprotunity to get to know his cell mate better. "So... Do you have any family? I remember you said that you had an aunt in Skyrim." "Yeah... There's me, my brother, twin brother actually and my Sister, whose a few years younger... My mum, as I mentioned earlier, she's a mage and then there's my dad, who... Well, he was a hunter or gatherer at some point or another. Then there's my Aunt, my Dad's sister, she lives... lived in Whiterun and then there's my other aunt, who lives a few day's walk from where I live, she was married to my Dad's brother, who died before I was born. She... Has a daughter, my cousin... Who we don't see that often, since they live in... well, kind of a weird place... Then there's my other uncle, my dad's youngest brother, he's a professor in the New Imperia City. M-Most of his daughters were adults, when I was a kid... Youngest was in her early twenties, when we first went to visit and Di accidentally spilt wine on her dress." The Bosmer broke away as she began to cackle at the memory. "She gasped and jumped up and called her a 'little shit." The Imperial-Bosmeri Half-Breed continued to giggle, it was truly very funny until Di burst into tears... She gave a happy sigh, wipiing a small tear from her eyes and sniffing. If her face was anymore red, it would illuminate the room. "Erm... S-Sorry..." She sniffed, relaxing a little more. "Where was I? Oh, yeah... So that's... Uncle Telim.... Then there's Uncle Cyrus, my Mom's twin. Twins run in my family, he works in Black Marsh, has done since my Auntie Fia died and... Then there's his daughter." Niall just lay there, trying to process that tsunami of information, as the young Half-breed sort of sped up towards the end. "That's... A big family..." He whispered, breathlessly, feeling somewhat envious. "I could have a huge family, for all I know." Mona nodded, she didn't really think of it as anything special really, Oakvales just breed like rabbits. Her family could be even bigger than she knew as her grandfather was possibly still out there. "Who were you visiting in Skingrad?" She decided to ask, realising that she ahd said a lot about herself and her own family but she knew very little about Niall. Then again, he wasn't all that talkative, he came across as rather shy and nervous about something. "I'm... Not sure... I deally my grandmother, who apparently lives... or lived in Skingrad." Niall explained, pulling himself back until his back hit the wall. He sat up straight as he went back to staring into the darnkess. "Your grandmother? Hmm... She might be alive, if she's a Dunmer, like you." "No, she's... An Imperial, my dad was a Half-Breed, mum was Dunmer." "Ah, so your Dad is like me?" Mona beamed, glad that they had one thing in common. "Yeah, he was Half Imperial, Half Dunmer." Niall smiled, turning to her approximate direction. Mona was about to speak, when an icy wind crept in and, like several cilling fingers, clung to the back of her neck. The Half-Breed dragged herself across the room, hoping that Niall's side of the room was warmer. She crawled for quite a distance, stumbling and falling about, in the dark as the ship swayed from side to side. "Ow!" "Sorry!" Mona felt her shoulder brush up against her cell mate's as she sat down and relaxed a little. "It was getting cold over there." She whispered, hoping to justify the move. Niall nodded, accepting it as he felt the weight of her head fall on his right shoulder, the boney outline of her ear dug into it and he could feel it through the thin material of his robes, the thin, black wires on the top of her head were now tickling his neck. He didn't feel completely comfortable as he sat there, in the dark, letting his cheek fall against the top of her head. "I wish that we could go to a tavern..." Niall muttered, instantly getting the girl's attention as she looked up and gave him a smile, drinking and sleeping in a tavern had been a fantasy of hers for a long time. It really added to the idea of living freely, not having a home to come back to, no cooking, no cleaning, no dirty dishes, no Mom and Dad, demanding her to stop having fun and surrended to boredom and manoteny. Niall was kind of the opposite, he loved to stay in, rain or shine and write or read at his table. He'd sometimes leave the hosue on a scortching hot day and venture out, a couple of feet, to the nearest tree, where he'd resume yesterday's reading or writing exorcise. Still, he remembered his journey from Camlorn to Daggerfall being fun. He went with a carravan, that was owned by a friend of his mother. They looked after him and were almost overly cautious, to ensure that he made his way through okay. One night, they stopped off at an inn, a traditional kind of place, with mead, soup, venison, small and cozy wooden seating areas, a warm fire and topless dancers. Well, only in a back room, Niall didn't go to those rooms as he didn't have any reason to do so. he remembered being ditched by his friends and having to keep himself entertained with a good book. It... Was rather pleasant. "I've never been to a tavern..." Mona mumbled, closing her eyes as she relaxed on his shoulder. "Always wanted to though..." "It's... Actually quite nice." Niall whispered, giving her a smile, which she couldn't see, due to the fact that it was pitch black in their cell. "Wait, didn't your Aunt own an inn?" "Yeah but... I was quite young, when I went." Mona muttered, relaxing a little more. "I didn't really appreciate mead back then." "I still don't." Niall replied, with a chuckle as he slowly raised his hand, placing it on her right shoulder as it was far more comfortable. "I doubt I'll get the chance now..." She added, with a heavy sigh, almost longingly. She'd always wanted one night there, even if she was trapped in this room, with a fireplace and some mead, it would have been a massive improvement. Niall almost nodded in agreement before he suddenly thought of something, he brought his left hand up with some flames flickering in his palms as he readied a fire spell. Mona looked up and saw the small, orange glow in his hand, somewhat captivated by it as her face lit up both literally and metaphorically. She slowly pulled away and sat in front of him, watching the tiny flames dance in the Dunmer's hands, her mouth was agape, awestruck as she seemed moved by it. The small fire felt more like a camp fire than a fireplace but that fantasy had long since been forsaken as soon as some real magic entered the room. She watched, slowly raising her hand to touch it as if it was an illusion. "N-Niall?" The Dunmer just smiled and gave her a nod, the small cuts on his lips were stretched apart and felt like they were being pulled open. "This..." She whispered, looking up to him, with a smile. "This is our ticket out of here..." "Are you nuts!?" Niall snapped, sounding incredibly unnerved, even though his voice was just a faint whisper, in the dark, it was steaming with anxiety. "No, it'll work! I promise, the doors are pretty shitty as they are, we just have to smash it, with enough force." "But someone will hear us!" "So? No one'll be around!" "If they catch us..." "Then at least we didn't sit around, waiting for them to off us! At least it'll have been our decision... At least... We'll be together..." Niall's face softened, he... Truly didn't think that they were so close. But, then again, she was the closest thing he'd ever had to a friend. "Mona..." He didn't know how to finish the sentence and just fell silent as he pondered on it. "O-Okay..." He whispered, his voice gave out, like his resistance a he hung his head, just knowing that he'll regret this... Mona could sense his concern and, in truth, she felt pretty bad about forcing him to do this It was obvious that there was something about Niall, something that she just couldn't place, constantly chewing the skin on his fingers and lips, not ever initiating conversation but enjoying it non-the-less. "Niall?" "Yeah?" He asked, attentively as Mona went from his cell mate to his commanding officer, for the next hour or possibly longer, Mona's decisions would decide whether he lived or died, he lacked the courage to admit it to her though. "It'll be okay..." She assured him, once again, not exactly filling him with confidence. "Thanks..." He replied, suppressing all doubt in his voice as he turned to the door and readied his spells, ready to bring it down. Category:Blog posts Category:Stories